plan your money

Plan Your Money: Setting up Your Authorial Calendar for Success

Hey writer, next year is around the corner. Is your author career set up for success? Oftentimes authors join the #StarvingArtistsClub because they don’t do one thing: plan. If authors planned more, they’d hit goals they’re proud of, and would consistently build a business they never want to be away from. Being an author is not… Read more »

Title Image: Plan an Online Book Launch

Plan an Online Book Launch

So, you wrote a book, and now it’s getting published. Finally this dream, built with your blood and sweat and tears, is coming true! That makes it a time to celebrate! But if you’re anything like me, this is probably also a time of major stress—now you have to make sure the world knows about… Read more »

Title Image: Investments and Returns

Investments & Returns

Whenever I think of investments and, by extension, returns on investments, words like appreciation, capital, and risk usually come to mind. For most of my life, investments seemed a foreign concept. As someone who lives paycheck-to-paycheck, is perpetually broke, and can never seem to have more than a $13.00 balance in their checking account after… Read more »

#5onFri: Five Ways Writing a Novel Is Like Running a Marathon

Writing a novel is a marathon, not a sprint. They’re both ambitious undertakings that require consistent, focused effort over a longer period of time. They both require a special kind of dedication and optimism. And neither once comes without its setbacks. But that’s why we take on these challenges: to prove ourselves. To accomplish something…. Read more »

How the NASA-SpaceX Collaboration Can Inspire Your Writing

On May 30, 2020, NASA astronauts Bob Behken and Doug Hurley were launched in the Crew Dragon capsule by a Falcon 9 rocket, both capsule and rocket provided by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 returned safely to its barge. The next day, Behken and Hurley successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS). This was the… Read more »

Mid-Year Check: Reassessing Your 2020 Author Platform Goals

So, we’re a little more than halfway through the year. And holy moly has it been a year.  A pretty tough one, and one that has upended just about all of our well-intentioned plans. How have you been doing with your author platforming goals through all this? Personally, social distancing totally took my March book… Read more »

Melanie Marttila

Mythic Storytelling: Tarot for Writers, Part 3

Greetings, my lovely Speculators! I hope you’re keeping safe and well in these remarkable times. I also hope you’ve enjoyed this miniseries on the tarot for writers so far. To recap, in Part 1, I offered a brief introduction to the tarot, in Part 2, I reviewed five books on the tarot for writers, and… Read more »

Four Methods for Outlining Your Book

This is the fourth  post in my series on the benefits of writing with an outline. In my first post, I listed three reasons why most writers need an outline. In the second, I discussed three things to keep in mind when creating an outline. In the third, I talked about how to use one while drafting. In this… Read more »

Using an Outline on the Job

This is the third post in my series on the benefits and practicality of writing with an outline. In my first post, I listed three reasons why most writers need an outline. In the second, I discussed three things to keep in mind when creating an outline. Now, what do you do now that you actually… Read more »